


Courting: A Study in Elvhen Romantic Attachments

by Ineedmycoffee



Category: Dragon Age: Inquisition
Genre: F/M, Kink Meme, Light Angst, Non-Canon Relationship, Solas Being an Asshole, Solas is kantist, This got weirdly philosophical, Trevelyan is a big ole nerd, Trevelyan is utilitarian, non-canonical use of Chantry rituals
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-10-09
Updated: 2017-10-29
Packaged: 2019-01-11 00:19:12
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,370
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12310905
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ineedmycoffee/pseuds/Ineedmycoffee
Summary: Solas gets a gift, a gift he absolutely does not want.





	1. One

I own nothing, nothing!  
***

Solas was first and foremost an elf of patience and planning, but as he glared at the object on his pillow all he could think of was the which would be the most violent and brash option he could take. 

Surely, there was no way Tre-the girl knew what she had left him, and certainly there was no way he was appreciative of the item, or its intent.

On his thin bedroll sat a spring of Felandaris, wrapped with Crystal Grace and Royal Elfroot.

There was no way a circle trained human mage could know the significance of such an arrangement. 

And he was not some quaint youth who would swoon and at the attention of a pre...

Solas shook the thought from his head and left his tent, he inhaled deeply taking in the smells of the campsite, hoping to make it to the edge of the camp without catching the attention of a certain auburn haired human.

“Good morning Solas!”

Solas paused, and acknowledged the girl.

“Did you sleep alright, is it not a beautiful morning, do you think we might see any ruins today?” 

She paused to take a breath, and Solas was certain he was about to be subject to another round of rapid fire questioning. 

“How can someone who spent the night on the hard ground, be so chipper and awake early in the morning?” The girl turned from Solas to look at a dwarf with very impressive chest-hair. 

“Good morning Varric, did you sleep well, how can you not be so chipper on this beautiful morning, what do you think we’ll see today?” She was grinning widely, too widely in his opinion. How could she be so happy in a world so broken, how could she be so happy being a human?

With a being to engage her in aimless chatter Solas seized upon that moment to continue his walk to the river. Once far enough away from the girl and the token, did he pause to think about both.

Evelyn Trevelyan was strange to him, even in this bizarre time and for her ungainly race. A circle trained mage, although in Solas’ opinion she barely qualified as a mage, with weak fireballs and hollow ice walls, she did seem to possess a talent for healing though, so not completely meritless he supposed.

She was short for a human, coming right up to his shoulders. She had long dark auburn hair, thick and unruly, pale skin from spending untold years in a tower, and slightly plump from her life as a mage from a noble family. He snorted, completely physically unremarkable. 

She did however, seem to posses an unhinged desire to be well thought of by any and everyone, he was almost certain when confronted with the Darkspawn Magister she had tried to hug it. Along with a boundless curiosity, a sheer fascination for the outdoors, sweets, and a fixation on having multiple conversations with him a day.

“Maybe she did know what she was doing when she left me that gift.’ He sighed, before the Veil he had been gifted many a token from sweet smelling ladies. Some of those were simple, asking only for his time in the night. Others were more bold asking for a night on his arm at ball. If Trevelyan knew what she had given him, really understood what it was saying, then she was asking him for an arrangement, an exclusive arrangement.

‘You could go along, you need to be close to the anchor. Play the gentle lover to her.’ 

He was repulsed by his line of thinking, a human, a small flicker of light with a short wick. He may have sunk low, but he would never, never with a human. Even if it was just a farce.

He bent to a stream and washed his face, they were going to see the Horsemaster today, and it was best to get back to the group and start the day. 

 

Evelyn sipped her tea in the morning light, humming to herself happily. She felt guilty to be so content, to be out of a tower, just feeling the breeze on her face. By her side sat Varric, telling her about the time he and Hawke were trying to sneak a flock of sheep out of her house without Leandra catching on. 

“Leandra did find us, and she made Hawke clean the basement from top to bottom as recompense.” 

She snorted, unsure how much of the story was true, but found it amusing. 

“Alright, if you two are done chatting, we have work to do,” Cassandra’s voice cut through the morning. 

“Seeker, as always you remind us of our duty.”

Evelyn stood, rolling her shoulders and moving back and forth on the balls of her feet. Looking around the camp she noticed a certain bald member of their group was missing.

“I’ll go get Solas,” she said smiling at Cassandra, the Seeker nodded.

Humming an old tune and walking toward the last place she had seen him, hoping he liked her gift. A memory danced in her mind’s eye of a young Dalish Elf and herself in apprentice robes heads bent over a very rare book of elvhen lore.

She was in awe of the apostate, he seemed so wise, so fascinating, and so much more knowledgeable about the world then her. She hoped she could earn his friendship.

As if thinking of him had summoned him, she smiled and waved at Solas as he turned from the stream. “Good morning, again,” she called brightly.  
He nodded, heading toward their camp, passing her by with barely a glance. ‘Oh dear,’ she thought mournfully, ‘he didn’t like my gift.’ She paused, moping. Then shook her head and turned to catch up with the elf. 

“I saved you some breakfast, I hope you enjoy eggs and oatmeal.”

She was met again with silence.

“Did you find anything interesting in the Fade?”

He stopped short and she bumped into him, looking up as he turned and rounded on her.

“Herald, we have time to talk at Haven for now we should focus on the task at hand and not waste energy on idle chatter.”

He turned and started walking away, her voice stopped him.

“I know you don’t wish to use my given name, but please, please don’t call me Herald.”

His shoulders slumped, “Lady Trevelyan.”

She smiled widely back at him.


	2. Two

Evelyn walked in the sun, as she was want to do everyday, and once she was down past the frozen lake by Haven, she strode to the woods she broke into a short run. She couldn’t last for very long, but the freeing nature of run, something she could never do in the tower, feeling the wind biting at her face. 

She had gone full sprint, but didn’t even make it a full minute before she was gasping for air, still she pushed herself. She had to become better, Cassandra’s shield may not always be there to keep a demon away from her. She had to become more, to be able to run, to be able to walk all day without feeling tired.

However being someone not use to rough snow-clad terrain when even walking, it was inevitable when she started to slip and fall. Rolling down the hill, she came to a stop with her head only hitting one rock. 

She stayed there, looking up at the sky head sinking into the snow, her hair had come loose during the fall and was now spread out about her. She pulled her hand up feeling magic whirl in her fingers bringing it to her head, healing any cuts and bruises, it wouldn’t due to be seen by the others in such a state. She was still a mage and she felt the vast majority of residents of Haven where still extremely watchful of her, and possibly a little wary. 

She stood, hearing wolves howl, decided to right herself and return to Haven.

 

Solas watched the girl walk back towards Haven, braiding her hair. She had fallen rolling down a steep hill, laying down in the snow breathing harshly with a too large grin on her face. He became worried she was concussed, he was about to approach her when she lifted her hand up healing herself. He stayed in the shadows, not like a voyeur he told himself, like a predator watching prey. 

She had not seeked him out socially since that day at camp. She would talk to him of course, with questions about the breach, she would help him in the field, but she didn’t ask him about his day, about his walks in the fade. She certainly had made no mention of her token. Around mealtimes when at camp she would ensure he got his own share of food but then she would sit next to the child of stone and beg from him to hear tales of the Champion. He told himself he was relieved, that it was better to not have any lingering friendships when he left this place. 

He turned away from her and went about plotting his next move. It was a puzzle, he needed to be close to the anchor, but he did not want to get too close nor did he have a reliable enough proxy. 

He pondered the issue into the evening, finding no clear course of action, he returned to Haven. Passing by the girl’s cabin his ears caught something he was not expecting. Pausing to lean against cabin next to hers he listened further. 

“Please ease the pain of the families of those lost at the Conclave, please keep those at Haven safe, please grant me forgiveness in my heart and keep my family in good health. And please forgive me any tresspass toward those around me and please keep me from being insensitive.”

He moved away before she finished, worried he would look too much like a loiterer. So the girl was Andrastian, interesting. She didn’t invoke the Maker’s name in every paragraph, nor did she adorn herself with mementos of the religion. He recalled her plea not to refer to her as Andraste’s Herald, curious. Most humans would cloak themselves in the Maker’s glory, put on a show for their peers, and would only pray publicly and if they did pray in private it was usually for greater boons for their own home they asked for.

An Andrastian Circle Mage who engaged in Elvhen courting customs. Odd.

His walking had taken him toward the Chantry. 

“You’ve been more distant than normal, you know,” Varric called to him. Sighing under his breath he walked over to the dwarf. 

“Alas, I find I cannot compete for a Lady’s attention when going up against your chest hair.”

“Chuckles please, all you would need to do is cough and my chest hair would be forgotten in a flurry of concerns for your health,” Varric smiled up at him crookedly.

“You make it sound as though I relish in her attention,”

The smile vanished and he pulled Bianca to his side.

“Walk with me will you? The walls have ears.”

Solas nodded, noticing the supposedly sleeping form of Liliana shift suddenly. The pair wandered slowly past the combat grounds, to the icy lake. The pace had relaxed Solas slightly, the pair had even engaged in light banter, jokingly discussing the folly of humans. Which was why when Varric rounded on him suddenly, with a much less friendly demeanor, it had come as a slight shock.

“Look, I get it. You’re an apostate, bounding from place to place and never forming any real ties,” his words had clearly been well chosen, thought over time and time again. “But Evelyn is scared, and being a circle mage she’s only use to falling back on other mages for comfort. She likes Cassandra well enough, and all women adore me, but I know it’s not enough. All she wants is to be your friend. 

“You make it sound as I’m some great cad, I made a brief request to the Herald that we remain as professional as possible. If she is the chosen of Andraste then it would not be seemly for her to keep close company such as myself,” he stated aloofly.

“Cut the shit Elf, I don’t know what happened between you two. But I know you hurt her feelings somehow and she’s trying to avoid you as much as possible.”

“Am I on trial now? I spoke the truth,” he kept his voice even.

Varric sighed deeply, “You’re odd Solas, always polite but never personable, never friendly, distant but always in the background and should know lone mages don’t last long around Chantry underlings. Especially ones perceived as odd.”

Solas paused, and fixed the Dwarf with a hard glare.

“Very well, I will make peace with the Herald.” 

“Evelyn, she prefers Evelyn.”

“Noted,” he turned from Varric, intent on returning to his cabin.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I always thought if there was anyone who could have a man to man conversation with Solas it would be Varric. Much thanks to all for the reviews and kudos! I hope this chapter is an enjoyable one.
> 
> Also I can´t remember if one can actually pray to the Maker or if their only supposed to use the chant...but sorry if I messed that up.


	3. Chapter 3

“You’re not real,” Evelyn stated boredly.

The soft elven features morphed into a rat like visage. “Nothing you do will change anything, you will never truly be without the sword and sun at your back.”

Black robes faded into nothing.

Evelyn sighed, dreaming was annoying. She recognized she was in the fade, but couldn’t control her surroundings. ‘It’s not like I’d ask to reshape the Golden City,’ she thought ‘I’d just make the chair cushions softer.’

‘Why does it always have to be the circle tower library,’ she looked around, seeing faceless apprentices and templars. She stood from the table, and started walking. As always the areas in front of her line of vision where crisp, but became blurry when reaching the corner of her eye.

She hummed to herself, and walked on.

He was not watching for any perverse desire to know more about her, absolutely not. He was only watching to ensure she did not let his power succumb to a twisted spirit. As she had every night since her gaining the anchor she refused Despair, and walked along the tower. He was not in the least bit curious of why Despair came to her wearing the same face each night, he did not. He seeing her refusal, moved on to seek out old friends. 

 

Evelyn awoke to the sound of: horses, bacon sizzling in a pan, and Cassandra yelling at Varric. 

¨Why aren´t you on Chuckles or Cheeky´s case about being ready?¨ she heard his gruff voice from outside her tent. She could just imagine him meeting Cassandra´s gaze with a glint in his eye that infuriated the Seeker.

¨Because Solas and the Herald do not smell like a distillery this early in the morning!¨

Popping her head out of the tent she greeted the two with an, ¨Evelyn please, Cassandra if you do not mind.¨

The two paused their yelling to look at her.

¨I-uh, yes Her-Evelyn,¨ Cassandra got out.

Evelyn smiled brightly at them both, Varric gave her a responding with a wink. 

¨If someone could save me some breakfast I would really appreciate it. I find myself in dire need of a quickwash.¨

¨Something I wish Varric would volunteer to do more often,¨ Varric rolled his eyes after Cassandra shot him a dirty look.

¨I´ll grab you some bacon, Cheeky.¨

¨Cheeky?¨ she asked pulling out of her tent.

¨You´re always grinning.¨

¨Fair enough,¨ she turned to exit the camp.

¨Do you require accompaniment?¨ Cassandra called to her. Evelyn paused, before turning to the Seeker.

¨If it would not be any trouble, I am always happy for company,¨ she said gently.

¨I will follow you shortly then, and you,¨ she said rounding back on Varric. ¨Had best save two plates, and then be ready to leave camp by the time we get back.¨

¨I swear you and Aveline are long lost relatives,¨ he muttered while still turning to reserve the women some dinner. No one wanted to fight with an angry Seeker. 

Evelyn giggled, and waited for Cassandra. They walked from camp with minimal interaction, Evelyn getting the feeling that Cassandra wanted this to be a quick jaunt. Feeling the morning dew seep into her cloth shoes, she pondered what today would hold for them, they were going back to the Hinterlands with supplies for the refugees and a proper safety patrol to take Mother Giselle back to Haven.

¨May I ask you something,¨ Cassandra asked softly by her side, once they were far away from the camp.

She looked at the tall woman, who was decidedly not meeting her eyes, which she found to be a decidedly un-Cassandra trait.

¨Yes, is everything alright?¨

¨Yes, it´s just, are you, are you still interested in Solas,¨ she fixed Evelyn with a hard stare. 

¨Well, yes I find him interesting. I mean fascinating to be honest, just all the things he has seen and done, and the places he has been. How could one not find him interesting.¨

Cassandra sighed heavily, ¨I am not talking about if he is objectively interesting, I mean are you interested in him, in a romantic fashion.¨

Evelyn tripped.

She then met Cassandra´s gaze as the other woman stood over her with a concerned look in her eye.

¨Excuse me?¨ 

She was coughing and trying to rearrange her sleep clothes to something respectable.

¨You were always following him, and asking him so many questions, you always look to him when we take our meals and make sure he is well fed,¨ she rambled on with more increasingly embarrassing details that made Evelyn realize how her actions could have been misconstrued. 

¨Cassandra! Please stop!¨

The warrior stopped her list.

¨Any attempts at a relationship, as you so put it are completely platonic I assure you!¨ 

She had made the statement so quickly her voice cracked at the end. 

¨Oh,¨ Cassandra stated dejectedly. 

A flush had formed over the cheeks of the two.

¨Let´s get to the stream, it was supposed to be a quick wash after all.¨

They both nodded, silently agreeing to not bring the awkward conversation up again.

Reaching the stream they both dunked their heads in quickly, and then discretely when about washing areas that would rather not be mentioned. 

Walking back to the camp Evelyn became truly envious of Cassandra´s short hair, as by the time they had reached the camp hers was completely dry, whereas the mage´s own long red hair was still wet and had started to poof up at the scalp while being uncomfortably wet around her neck.

They ate breakfast in quasi-silence, with Evelyn refusing to look around for a certain elf. She was very focused on her meal when her ears caught part of the conversation Varric and Cassandra were having.

¨Did you say bears!¨ 

Even when feeling the eyes of the whole camp on her she couldn´t be stopped, the words just poured from her mouth with wild abandon.

¨I´ve never seen one in person! My father had a stuffed one in our library, it towered over me, I called it Sir Theodore Ruxpin, after my uncle Teddy you see. When it would rain my brothers and I would go into that room and play pretend with him. Until Bess came and yelled at us for climbing on him.¨ She paused sucking in a giant breath, ¨Oh I hope we get to see one! Sir Ruxpin was always chastising me for eating all his honey and for always letting my stockings fall below my knees. Please, Cassandra can we see one?¨ 

She gazed upon the faces of her companions, her eyes earnestly gleaming with excitement and hope. 

¨I suppose, it is possible we may see some in the Witchwood, our scouts have reported both them and apostates in the area,¨ Cassandra replied slowly.

Evelyn proceeded to consume her breakfast with haste. After she had cleaned her plate and disposed of the eatery she ran back to her tent and gathered supplies.

¨Well, she´s enthused I´ll give her that much,¨ Varric stated, bemused.

¨Hopefully she doesn´t get this way about any darkspawn.¨

Cassandra and Solas both nodded in a rare moment of agreement.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This would have been out sooner, but my cat volunteered himself to be my editor. Then I tried to be all like ¨Sir Pounce de Lion you don´t have thumbs!¨ and then he murred at me which I assume was him going ¨Jeez human stop being so discriminatory.¨
> 
> Once again my apologies for any mistakes as this is unbeta-ed and my cat is very fond of the keyboard. Hopefully next chapter I can get to more Solas/Evelyn action. 
> 
> Also I own nothing! Nothing! All character´s listed belong to other peoples.

**Author's Note:**

> Hello, I am Solas/Trevelyan trash…….. and I really hope this wasn’t terrible. 
> 
> So there was a prompt on the Kinkmeme, and I can no longer find it but it goeth mostly thusly.
> 
> Trevelyan was a big ol’ elf nerd in the tower, she leaves Solas a traditional courting gift thinking it’s something for friendship. Solas is confused/repulsed by such an item and then is jealous when Trevelyan goes about making special male friends. Also I do not have a beta, so please forgive any errors.


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